How to podcast - chapter 1 the hardware

How To Podcast - Chapter 1 What hardware you need

You are reading this webpage so you already have 90% of the hardware that you need to create a basic podcast. If you want to get a really professional podcast you will need to invest time and money in better equipment but I will go through this a little bit further down.

Basic Podcast Hardware

Other than your computer you need a soundcard and a microphone. I recommend you don't use a boom microphone when podcasting because it doesn't have good sound quality and it will pick up background static and sounds.

Here is a common boom style microphone. They are extremely inexpensive but I don't recommend using this style for your podcasting. Even if your listeners are very interested in your podcast you may lose them because of the sound quality. This is the first microphone I used. I have since upgraded.

Beginning with your new podcast you dont have to invest a lot of money in a professional microphone. You should just get something with a reasonable quality. Here is what I recommend: Something that is hands free and that has headphones. This way, as you are producing your podcast you can listen and judge the quality.

I recommend something similar to this. You can shop around and get a good quality unit for less than twenty dollars. This particular unit has a USB connection which makes it real easy to install. It also has a nice inline volume control.

No sound card? If you don't have a sound card then you have to buy and install one. I recommend you stick with any of the current cards made by Creative Labs. They are an industry standard. If are unsure as to whether you need a sound card or not I recommend you try making a podcast first and see how your computer handles it. No need to invest in a new sound card if you don't need to.

Creative Labs makes industry standard sound cards. You can't go wrong if you buy one of their cards.

Advanced Hardware for podcasting

There are

Product Description
Includes: tripod stand. Blue Microphones Snowball - Round and white, the Snowball lives up to it's name, and features a retro style that harkens back to the early days of audio. But on the inside, the Snowball represents only the most modern in microphone technology. Bringing you professional quality audio recording on the PC or Macintosh via USB. It's perfect for everything from soft vocals to a loud garage band. It's also ideal for professional sounding podcasts. PC Requirements - XP Home or Professional Edition, USB 1.0 or 2.0 port, and a minimum of 64MB of RAM Mac Requirements - Mac OSX, USB 1.0 or 2.0 port, and a minimum of 64MB of RAM

Continue on to part 2: The Software you need